thank you dr. metzger

one of the greatest new testament professors, dr. bruce metzger, passed away this past tuesday. i never took a class with dr. metzger since he was retired by the time i arrived at princeton seminary. but he was often seen walking around, chatting with students, and on couple occasions, i had the privilege of having lunch with him.

if you’re unsure who he is, you’ll likely see his name on your bibles (RSV and NRSV) as one of the contributing editors. here is one tribute (amongst many) to a giant scholar, a follower of jesus, and an amazing and gentle man.

his work and textual criticism was often criticized. there are stories of how some of the fundamental churches in the states, particularly in the south, burned copies of the RSV (revised standard version) bible when it first came out in the 1950s.

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Metzger’s “New Testament: Its Background, Growth and Content” was the first scholarly/theology book I ever read (beyond “Christian Living” books) when I was 19 or so. It opened up a whole new world for me.

what a loss for the pts community, as well as the larger body of Christ. i was not able to take classes with dr. metzger either, but i know what an incredible individual he was. his knowledge of scripture was astounding, matched only perhaps by his humility and generous spirit. the pts community has mourned the loss of so many wonderful professors over the last several years (dr. loder, dr. jacks).

one of the things that i was amazed by was how highly regarded dr. metzger was by different ‘teams’ of theological and biblical views. and everyone (that i have met) who knew him spoke more about his kindness and humility than his brilliance – and trust me, that is saying alot.